Grass or grass-like · Cyperaceae
Green bulrush
Scirpus atrovirens
Green bulrush is recorded as native to 34 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,125 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Green bulrush at a glance
- Native in
- 1,125 counties, across 34 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 2a PLANTS minimum temperature −53°F
- Mature height
- 5.9 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Full sun (shade-intolerant) Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 2a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −53°F; zone 2a winters bottom out at −50°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Green bulrush is recorded as native to 34 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,125 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,125 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 6 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 1 county
- Illinois 102 counties
- Indiana 71 counties
- Iowa 31 counties
- Kansas 52 counties
- Kentucky 59 counties
- Louisiana 15 counties
- Maine 16 counties
- Massachusetts 12 counties
- Michigan 65 counties
- Minnesota 73 counties
- Mississippi 7 counties
- Missouri 56 counties
- Montana 2 counties
- Nebraska 20 counties
- New Hampshire 10 counties
- New Jersey 18 counties
- New York 56 counties
- North Carolina 43 counties
- North Dakota 3 counties
- Ohio 72 counties
- Oklahoma 10 counties
- Pennsylvania 57 counties
- Rhode Island 4 counties
- South Carolina 14 counties
- South Dakota 1 county
- Tennessee 57 counties
- Texas 8 counties
- Vermont 14 counties
- Virginia 74 counties
- West Virginia 37 counties
- Wisconsin 59 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Graminoid
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 5.9 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Bunch
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Long
- Active growth period
- Spring
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intolerant (full sun (shade-intolerant))
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Medium
- Precipitation range
- 16 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium and fine
- pH range
- 4 to 8
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 12 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −53°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 2a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 180
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Brown
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Summer
- Foliage color
- Dark Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Cyperaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- SCAT2
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Scirpus atrovirens (PLANTS symbol SCAT2).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources